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Yanora shines for Tunkhannock

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On Thursday night, Tunkhannock's Austin Yanora broke a school record for points in a game with 47.

His performance that night eclipsed his previous season-high of points scored in a game, which was the 44 he netted on Dec. 7 against Lackawanna Trail.

Three different players have scored more than 40 points in a game this season for a total of four times. Along with Yanora doing it twice, Wyoming Seminary's Seth Callahan has scored 43 points and Hazleton Area's Sal Biasi has dropped 41.

Waiting was the hardest part

Thanks to uncontrollable circumstances such as the weather, Lake-Lehman and Wyoming Seminary had unusually long waits to get their regular seasons started.

Wyoming Seminary opened league play on Tuesday night and lost to MMI Prep. It was Seminary's first game since Dec. 19. Because several players on the team are not from the area, they return home for the holidays. That makes it next to impossible to participate in holiday tournaments.

Lake-Lehman played its first league game on Wednesday, the first time the Black Knights took the court for a game since Dec. 30.

No school, no play

The no-school, no-play policy that school districts enforce has been used quite a bit this season and we are not even halfway through January.

While rescheduling games is certainly a hassle for coaches and athletic directors all around, a potential issue could arise later in the season. There is a deadline for the regular season to be completed in order to start the district tournament on time.

Something to think about here. What happens if school and games are postponed because of weather and the conference is getting dangerously close to that deadline? Is it then all right to play the games even if the students don't attend school?

Random numbers

Through Thursday's games, the teams in the Wyoming Valley Conference have scored a combined 9,099 points for an average of 53.2 per game. Teams have made 2,471 two-point baskets and 790 three-point baskets.

What has to be alarming to the conference coaches is the fact that the overall free-throw percentage is 63.4.

Getting close

Having to open conference play against Crestwood and Pittston Area - two of the favorites in Division I this year - was not easy for Dallas.

The Mountaineers lost both games by a combined 17 points. After being eliminated from the playoffs last year by GAR, Dallas coach Doug Miller promised this year's team would be better.

For the most part, Miller has been correct. The Mountaineers are 3-7 overall and just one of those losses has been lopsided, a 101-57 defeat to Scranton Prep.

Patriot games

A few games of interest are on Pittston Area's schedule next week.

The Patriots will play at Crestwood on Tuesday night in a key Division 1 game. On Wednesday, they will make the trip to Hazleton Area for a game that was rescheduled from last week due to the weather. They will round out the week with a home game against Valley West.

So, by the end of next week, the Patriots will have a pretty good idea of where they stand as far as the division race goes.

sbennett@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2062

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